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The magic of minimalism BBC4

Been having a bit of a minimalism workout here too, over the past few days I’ve played the whole of Glass Einstein On The Beach, Riley’s Rainbow In Curved Air a couple of time and now I’m trying to figure out which I prefer between the original ECM vinyl release of Reich’s Music For 18 Musicians playing via the Tannoys right now or the much later Nonesuch recording last night via CD (Pulse box linked earlier) and the Leak/149s. A strong case can be made for each!
 
I enjoyed the programme, but thought there could have been less talking/reminiscing, more music, and more explanation of the music. On In C, for example, the 53 modules have some intrinsic qualities which allow them to interact in particular ways, which are worth examining, in the same way that motifs in an artist’s painting would be examined. Many of the modules are based on North African drones and repetitions which produce a distinctive tonal & colour palette; hence, every performance of In C might be different, but you’ll still recognise the piece very quickly.

I listened to a couple of recordings of In C after the programme, some of the DVD of La Monte Young’s Well Tuned Piano, and also Steve Reich’s ECM LP with Octet and Music for a Large Ensemble. Also some of the Takoma records of Robbie Basho and John Fahey that seem (to me, at least) to have some of these ideas at their root. The Riley and La Monte Young age well - they are transcendent. The Reich, in my view, less so. Looking forward to the next programme.
 
Currently playing Reich’s Electric Counterpoint (Pat Metheny) and I’d forgotten how utterly brilliant it is. Orb fans will instantly recognise the bits that were sampled for Little Fluffy Clouds, but the rest is just as good too! It can be found in the Phases box and was originally the flip-side of the Different Trains LP.
 
I saw Bang on A Can All Stars playing Electric Counterpoint at The Phil a few years ago, they also have a good CD of " In C" which I played yesterday. The Different Trains CD is another one never far from the player. I found "Church of Anthrax" while going through the CD collection, I may give that a go tomorrow.
 
It didn’t need more depth. It needed to justify some of the basic statements it made. So, minimalism could only have started in the US when it did? Why? No explanation preferred. I’m not interested in anyone on here explaining this. Just making the point that a programme with unevidenced assertions doesn’t really stand up no matter how much it is otherwise enjoyable.
 
Just watched the first part. Yep, required some self-restraint not to throw stuff at the TV. What a lot of joyless ****ery.
If I had to sit through a full performance of In C, I'd slit my own throat. I doubt I'd last more than 10 mins of "The Well-Tuned Piano".

Still, I suppose the influence is more important than the thing itself, and they did influence some better things.
 
alanbeeb said:
Just watched the first part. Yep, required some self-restraint not to throw stuff at the TV. What a lot of joyless ****ery.
If I had to sit through a full performance of In C, I'd slit my own throat. I doubt I'd last more than 10 mins of "The Well-Tuned Piano".

Still, I suppose the influence is more important than the thing itself, and they did influence some better things.
Click to expand...

Tut tut. That sort of attitude is No Good.
 
I like and own a fair bit of minimalist music but have to play it when the wife is out of the house as she absolutely hates it. Even if she's a couple of rooms away she will complain. I do find I have to be in the right mood for it as some of it can be very tedious.
 
Enjoyed last night’s concluding episode. Interesting that Glass considered Einstein the end/conclusion of one stage of his composing as I’ve always felt that too. It is the last piece of his that I really like aside from Koyanisquatski which is a film soundtrack so works by different rules. I thought much too much was made of Oldfield’s Tubular Bells, which I don’t see as even remotely minimalist beyond the very opening rif. As soon as he adds to it it just becomes traditional instrumental rock structure. A far better case could be made for something like Tangerine Dream’s Rubycon and it’s gently shifting Moog step-sequences. I found Hazelwood very interesting in himself and how he loved minimalism as it bridged the gap between his formal classical training and a love of Kraftwerk, The Grateful Dead etc. I’ve always seen it as that kind of bridge myself but maybe a bit wider as it takes in Gamalan and Indian meditative music too along with the musique concrete techniques of Cage, Stockhausen etc. It is a form with many real high points IMO, I’ve really enjoyed reacquainting myself with many of the key works over the past two weeks.

PS I really need to grab a copy of the full Music In 12 Parts, I only have the single LP issue of part 1 & 2 on Caroline Records from the ‘70s.
 
really enjoyed the program. it's a bit of an eye opener for me on a whole area of music (apart from rica) that i seem to have overlooked. anyways, the rugby isn't looking too good so listening to philip glass, piano works, played by vikingur olafsson on deutsche g. it's really lovely.
 
Just watched the first episode and thought it was excellent. I'd heard of Terry Riley but had never heard any of his music before; A Rainbow in Curved Air is simply beautiful. It was also good to learn how Reich came up with phasing. Episode 2 awaits...
 
Quite enjoyed it, not that Lamonte guy though, self important twat. Noticed the influence of minimalism in some of the records I played the following few days, like Japan, Kevin saunderson (ok the techno connection is much more obvious), and others whose names now escape me.
 
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